The 58th National Hockey League All-Star Game, also known as the 2011 National Hockey League All-Star Game presented by Discover, was the National Hockey League’s (NHL) annual All-Star game played on January 30, 2011. The game took place during the 2010–11 NHL season at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, home of the Carolina Hurricanes. Originally, the game was supposed to be hosted by the Phoenix Coyotes, but due to ownership issues the NHL decided to move the game. After bidding for the game reopened it was awarded to Carolina and fulfilled a nine-year-old promise made to the franchise by Commissioner Gary Bettman.
The 2011 version of the All-Star game featured a break from the traditional way in which teams were organized. Instead of using conferences or player nationalities as in the past, teams were selected by captains in a fantasy draft days prior to the game. Fans still elected players to the All-Star game, but instead of the traditional 12 starters (six for each team) they elected only six players, with the remaining 36 players involved in the game selected by the NHL. Sidney Crosby received the most votes of any player, but due to a concussion he was unable to participate in the game. The participating players voted for team captains, selecting Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings and Eric Staal of the Hurricanes.
Staal won the first pick in the draft and selected longtime teammate Cam Ward. Toronto’s Phil Kessel was the last player chosen. The annual SuperSkills competition was held the night before the game and featured Alexander Ovechkin winning his third consecutive Breakaway Challenge. In addition, Zdeno Chara broke his own SuperSkills competition record for hardest shot at 105.9 mph (170.4 km/hr). Team Staal won the contest 33–22.
Team Lidstrom won the game 11–10, the 21 combined goals was the fourth highest total scored in an NHL All-Star game. The first Penalty shot in All-Star game history was called after Ovechkin threw his stick to break-up a Matt Duchene breakaway. Registering one goal and two assists, Patrick Sharp of the losing Team Staal won the Most Valuable Player Award. Jeff Skinner was the youngest player to ever play in an NHL All-Star game. Shea Weber recorded four assists, making him only the second defenceman to accomplish the feat in one All-Star game. Fellow defenceman Lidstrom registered a +7 rating, the highest in an All-Star game since 1991. Winning goaltender Tim Thomas became the first goaltender in NHL history to win three consecutive All-Star games.
Read more about 58th National Hockey League All-Star Game: Background, New Format, The Guardian Project, Voting, Draft, SuperSkills Competition, Game Play
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